Validation of the Norwegian versions of the Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) in a mental health care setting

Background

The implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is of crucial importance in health care institutions and requires effective management from leaders. However, there is a lack of assessment tools sufficient to evaluate the degree to which the employees´ rate how well their leaders are at implementing EBPs. This emphasises the need for validated and widely used scales relevant for EBPs.

Methods

The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS) in a Norwegian mental health care setting.

Results

Results from confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the MLQ and ILS are valid instruments for measuring general and implementation leadership. The scales demonstrate good convergent validity. In addition, attitudes towards EBPs did not seem to be associated with the ILS and MLQ, further supporting the applicability of the instruments.

Conclusions

The two scales demonstrate good psychometric properties in a Norwegian mental health care setting, which suggests that the MLQ and ILS are valid and reliable tools for measuring leadership in an implementation setting. More research is greatly needed to disentangle the link between perceived leadership and objective measures of successful implementation of EBPs.

Trial registration NSD 690,133, NSD 60,059/3/OOS.

Testing the leadership and organizational change for implementation (LOCI) intervention in Norwegian mental health clinics: a stepped-wedge cluster randomized design study protocol

BACKGROUND

Alignment across levels of leadership within an organization is needed for successful implementation of evidence-based practice. The leadership and organizational change for implementation (LOCI) intervention is a multi-faceted multilevel implementation strategy focusing on enhancing first-level general and implementation leadership while also engaging with organization upper management to develop an organizational climate for implementation. The aim of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of LOCI in supporting the implementation of evidence-based treatment for PTSD in child- and adult-specialized mental health clinics in health trusts in Norway.

METHODS

The study design is a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial with enrollment of clinics in three cohorts. Executives, clinic leaders, and therapists will be asked to complete surveys assessing leadership and implementation climate. Surveys will be completed at baseline, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 months. Results from surveys will be shared with executives and clinic leaders to inform the subsequent creation of tailored leadership and climate development plans for enhanced implementation. Patients will complete surveys measuring traumatic events and post-traumatic stress symptoms during the therapy process. Therapy sessions will be audio or video recorded and scored for fidelity as part of training.

DISCUSSION

This study aims to provide knowledge on how to improve leadership and organizational climate to enhance effective implementation of evidence-based treatments in mental health services.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study has been registrated in ClinicalTrials with ID NCT03719651 .